As New York's Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo wraps up negotiations with state lawmakers on this session's legislative agenda, New York's immigrant advocates remain in the dark as to the governor's position on granting undocumented students who meet in-state requirements access to state financial aid. The so-called New York Dream Act (A.06829/S.04179; pdf), introduced to the state's legislature last spring, has won the support of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, state business leaders, and New York's public educational institutions.

The bill was created in response to the federal government's inability to pass national "Dream" legislation in 2010, which would have provided a path to citizenship for undocumented young people who were brought to the US as children. Although the New York state Dream Act would not be able to provide a path to citizenship for undocumented youth, the bill is seen by advocates as part of a menu of practical state-level responses to the federal government's paralysis on immigration reform.

While advocates and allies gain support from state lawmakers and bring national attention to the bill, Governor Cuomo has remained silent. His office maintains that the governor is still studying the legislation. But as Cuomo reaches a conclusion on the merits of investing in a segment of the population that is more likely to start a business, revitalize economically depressed areas, and contribute to overall job growth, other state executives have already made up their mind. Similar bills have passed in states like New Mexico, California, and Texas, while many more have been introduced in legislatures across the United States (pdf), reflecting both a growing national trend and the bipartisan support behind it.

The governor's lack of a public stance on New York's Dream Act is not only significant for what it says about the state's leadership on immigrant reform, but for where the governor is positioning himself – or trying to avoid positioning himself – on an increasingly contentious national issue. With the governors of Arizona and Alabama championing the persecutory politics of "self-deportation", but paying dearly for it, New York's historic pragmatism toward its undocumented immigrant population has yet to be asserted under Cuomo's administration.

Albany watchers suspect that at least some of the governor's apprehensiveness about supporting the New York Dream Act lies in a concern about how this will play in a future presidential bid. But with leading presidential candidates losing support among moderates and Hispanics for their hard-line stance toward undocumented immigrants, this concern seems unwarranted.

Economic arguments against the New York Dream Act have also proven insufficient. The nonpartisan Fiscal Policy Institute has placed the cost (pdf) of allowing undocumented students to access New York's Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) at roughly $17m, or just 2% of the program's total budget; and it expects that the added tax revenue provided by having a more educated workforce will more than pay for the measure. Moreover, New York State is the fourth-largest recipient of taxes from undocumented immigrants (estimated at $662m in 2010), making their fiscal contribution to the state difficult to ignore.

Cuomo's non-position on the New York Dream Act is best explained by his political style and positioning since taking office. In running a state notorious for legislative gridlock and dysfunction, the Cuomo administration has chosen to embrace Albany's political culture for the sake of efficiency. This has translated into a tightly choreographed legislative session – negotiated with the state's lawmakers beforehand and behind closed doors – replacing the vote-wrangling and principled public quarrels that have marked previous governorships.

This approach has also enabled the governor to secure a few progressive gains – passing legislation recognising same-sex marriage being the most notable. But such bargaining means he has also signed major legislation placing him to the right of the political center, winning plaudits from former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and former New York City Republican Mayor Rudolph Giuliani; and it has meant that Cuomo has received campaign contributions from Tea Party backer and billionaire industrialist David Koch.

With an estimated 1.9 million undocumented young people expected to benefit from the bipartisan-supported federal Dream Act, and 9.5 million American families belonging to mixed-status homes (or households with both documented and undocumented members), the real and symbolic national impact of adopting state-level Dream legislation seems clear. Governor Cuomo was clever enough to spot how the marriage equality campaign was overtaking the nation. The question now is whether he and the state lawmakers he works with will have the foresight and courage to do right by the youthful victims of our nation's flawed immigration system – and join other states in providing sensible solutions for undocumented families.